The term “electronic device” refers to a device which performs a specific function corresponding to an installed program or stored information. For example, an electronic device may output the stored information in the form of a sound or an image. Examples of electronic devices include various items such as a home appliance, an electronic diary, a portable multimedia player, a mobile communication terminal, a tablet PC, an image/sound unit, a desktop/laptop computer, a navigation device for a vehicle, and the like.
There are various kinds of input devices for an electronic device such as the ones described above. For example, a desktop computer and similar devices include an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a home appliance is provided with a remote controller. In the electronic device such as a mobile communication terminal, a microphone and a keypad are used as traditional input devices. Recently, a touch screen has been substituted for a physical keypad.
In implementation, a touch screen functions not only as a display unit for displaying a screen of an electronic device, but also as an input module for detecting a user's touch to receive input data. For example, the touch screen is capable of detecting a user's body, such as a finger touch, through a touch panel implemented in an electrostatic capacitive scheme or a resistive scheme, using a transparent electrode panel made of a transparent conductor such as an Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) film.
The electronic device may convert the hand-writing of a user into an image or a document to store it as well as detect a touch through the touch screen. A resistive type touch panel detects an input operation of a user by recognizing a pressure applied to a surface of a touch screen, such as a touch screen display unit. Such a resistive type touch panel may convert the writing of a user using a general writing instrument into an image or a document. An electrostatic capacitive type touch panel detects an input operation of a user by recognizing a change of an amount of electric charge caused by an object coming in contact with a surface of a touch screen display unit. As it is necessary to allow the object to be in contact with an area wider than a predetermined size in order to detect the change of the amount of the electric charge, the electrostatic capacitive type touch panel may have a limitation in detecting a written input from the touch operation of the human body, in comparison with the resistive type touchscreen. In the electrostatic capacitive touchscreen display unit, in order to make a writing input possible, an ElectroMagnetic Induction (EMI) type input device may be further mounted on the electronic device.
However, when an EMI type input device is mounted on the touchscreen display device, it is inconvenient to change between the EMI type input and the touch panel type input. For example, since the EMI type input uses an input device equipped with an EMI circuit, but an input by the touch operation mainly uses a finger of a user, it may be difficult to change between input schemes. Further, in carrying out the EMI type input, for example, since a thickness of a line in a menu of an execution program is selected each time, a writing input of various forms may be difficult. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved apparatus and method for easily changing between input schemes, such as an EMI type input and a touch type input.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.